Lates News

Abigail Slater, head of antitrust at the Department of Justice, resigned on Thursday, sparking questions about how the Trump administration will handle competition policy in the future. Slater posted her resignation statement on X after the White House had already requested her resignation. When Trump nominated Slater for the position last December, it was widely seen as a signal that the second Trump administration would continue the aggressive antitrust enforcement strategy adopted by the Biden team. Slater's resignation comes at a time of internal disagreement within the Department of Justice over merger enforcement. Last month, despite recommendations from Slater and antitrust lawyers at the Department of Justice to conduct a thorough review of Compass's acquisition of its biggest competitor, Anywhere Real Estate, the Department of Justice still approved the deal. Controversies surrounding the proposed acquisition of Juniper Networks by Hewlett Packard Enterprise had already led to the dismissal of two senior deputies of Slater in the Department of Justice. The antitrust division is also reviewing the ongoing competition between Netflix and Paramount in their bid to acquire Warner Bros.